Political face-off: Ghuman brings trash outside Arora’s house

A dramatic scene unfolded outside the residence-cum-office of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sanjeev Arora on Wednesday as Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman reached the place with a tractor-trailer overflowing with trash, including horticulture waste and garbage.

Ghuman had collected the waste, which was lying unattended, from Rajguru Nagar.

The SAD candidate while venting ire against the AAP leader, accused the ruling party of deploying sanitation and other government employees for its political campaigns, rather than allowing them to perform their official duties in other city areas where needed.

“Instead of doing their duty, the government workers are attending meetings of the ruling party candidate, which shows how the government machinery is being misused by Arora,” Ghuman said.

Ghuman told The Tribune the reason behind taking the vehicle overflowing with trash from Rajguru Nagar to outside the house of Arora on the Ferozepur road.

Residents had made numerous complaints about uncollected garbage and horticulture waste. Despite repeated attempts, their requests had gone unanswered. After he got to know about the issue, he, joined by local residents, took the matter into their own hands and loaded the accumulated waste in a tractor-trailer and transported it directly to Arora’s residence.

“When I reached outside the house of the AAP candidate, I tried to meet him when he got down from his car. However, Arora swiftly entered his home without acknowledging me or other residents accompanying me. Later, a representative from his residence came to talk with me,” Ghuman said.

He emphasised that while they could have thrown garbage there, they decided not to do the same. Their intention was to request the AAP leader, who was controlling government officials in the city now, to allow all employees to perform their duties without any pressure.

Meanwhile, Arora said he did not recognise Ghuman as he was in a hurry for a scheduled meeting. After winding up the meeting, when he came outside, nobody was present outside the house. Arora categorically denied of stopping government employees from performing their assigned duties.